Ajdar Babazade, senior researcher at the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS and head of the Azykh Archaeological Research and Analysis Laboratory at Karabakh University, participated in a short-term scientific visit at the Laboratory for Traceology and Controlled Experiments (TraCEr) in Germany at the end of June and beginning of July. The laboratory is part of the Monrepos Archaeological Research Center and Museum of Human Behavioral Evolution, under the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA) in Mainz.

The scientific mission was carried out within the framework of the Azerbaijan Science Foundation’s major grant (Project title: Traceological and experimental analyses of the techno-typology of Stone Age tool industries of Karabakh, Project number: AEF-MCG-2023-1(43)-13/13/5-M-13). During the visit, microscopic analyses were conducted on Paleolithic artifacts excavated during archaeological research at Azykh Cave in 2024.

At the traceology and experimental laboratory, Ajdar Babazade, along with his mentor and partner, the laboratory’s director Dr. Joao Marreiros, carried out micro- and macro-analyses of Karabakh’s Paleolithic tools using microscopes. The analyses involved archaeological materials discovered during the 2024 excavations at Azykh Cave by the Azerbaijan–Germany international expedition, conducted under a memorandum of understanding between LEIZA and the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS. Micro-analyses of the Azykh Paleolithic stone tools were performed using a metallographic microscope.

The main goal of these analyses is to uncover the life story of the hominins (a biological primate family conventionally including humans and large human-like apes) that lived in Karabakh, using modern epistemological approaches. In addition to understanding the evolution of the techno-typology of Karabakh’s hominins, the microscopic analyses will also help study their prehistoric social, economic, and cognitive models. All of this aims to establish new paradigms in the Paleolithic archaeology of Karabakh.

It should be noted that thanks to the major grant support from the Azerbaijan Science Foundation, it became possible not only to conduct microscopic analyses in the world’s leading technological laboratories but also to establish a laboratory in our country to carry out such analyses locally.

Thus, under the memorandum signed between the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS and Karabakh University, the Azykh Archaeological Research and Analysis Laboratory was established. With funding from the Azerbaijan Science Foundation’s major grant, the Azykh Laboratory was equipped with the necessary instruments, equipment, and devices for micro-archaeological analyses. By acquiring Karl Zeiss microscopes — a world-renowned brand of high-quality optical products — our country earned the status of having the first microscopic laboratory in the field of archaeology.

Currently, the Azykh Archaeological Research and Analysis Laboratory continues conducting techno-typological, mathematical-statistical, traceological, geo-experimental, digital, micro-, and other archaeological studies and analyses on Paleolithic materials from Karabakh. In addition, archaeological materials from different periods and various regions of our country are being brought to the laboratory. Students of Karabakh University are also involved in the laboratory’s research and analytical work. They benefit from laboratory training and participate as members of the Azykh International Paleolithic Expedition.

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